Obamacare Meeting Feb 16th Notes

Wednesday night at our Obamacare Hearing, attendees saw the battle lines emerge over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

I am delighted to have had so many supporters of Obamacare come to the hearing.  I am grateful for their attendance and enjoyed the civil discourse and the opportunity to hear why they were in support of the measure.  As Phyllis Schlafly, Bill Hennessey and Peter Kinder described infirmities of the law, such as the unconstitutional nature of the individual mandate, all in attendance listened and heard those arguments peaceably.

During the question and answer session supporters of Obamacare were afforded the opportunity to challenge the panelists, but I think the most interesting exchange happened among private citizens in the last hour.

Listening to the supporters of Obamacare describe their reasons for support, I noted a few consistent themes.

Concern for Pre-Existing Conditions – Several supporters of Obamacare were very concerned about the fact that insurance companies can deny coverage in some cases for individuals with pre-existing conditions.  They were particularly concerned about the availability of insurance for those with chronic, debilitating illness or injury and congenital sickness, particularly as sick children became adults and could not continue on their parent’s plan.

Concern for Insurance Costs – Most supporters expressed, in one form or another, deep concern over the incessant march toward higher costs.  We all understand that health care costs are increasing faster than the rate of inflation.  While many people are uninsured because they make consumer choices I believe they are free to make, others are uninsured simply because they lack the resources to purchase it even after prudently trimming their budgets.

Concern for Medication Costs – One supporter noted the high cost of medications, such as anti-rejection drugs after a transplant, or oncology drugs fighting cancer.

I think that I can speak for most opponents of Obamacare that we share identical concerns.  Health insurance is very expensive, as are many medications.  We typically need the most aid when we are most vulnerable and least able to pay for it.  A chronic illness brings on more expenses than just the cost of care, items that are often not covered by insurance.

One key difference between supporters and opponents is a fundamental disagreement with both the cause of skyrocketing costs and the solution.  The foundation of this disagreement is a vision of the role of government in our lives.

Even if I thought Obamacare was an otherwise prudent solution to the health insurance problems plaguing America, I would still be unwilling to accept an unconstitutional solution.  If the police were less fussy about the constitutional rights of suspects, I imagine we might see a great drop in crime, but we would not accept this solution, either.

Nevertheless, I am convinced that skyrocketing costs in health hinge on the fact that our health care market is deeply and profoundly distorted. I see these distortions as the result of a combination of consumer behavior and poorly structured and conceived government involvement on both the state and federal level.  There is far less freedom in the markets for both insurance and health care services than in other markets for goods and services. I also see far fewer economic incentives modulating consumer behavior than one sees in other vital markets.  While the actual costs of our litigious environment in health care may not be the most important factor driving costs, the costs of defensive medicine to reduce risk of lawsuit must be accounted for as well.

I believe the evidence is overwhelming that less government involvement – particularly Federal involvement – will yield the results we hope for.  I also think there will have to be  a shift in how consumers of health care services and goods make choices in securing care for themselves and their family.  While I share in the goals of the good people who came to our February health care forum, we do deeply disagree on the wisdom and legality of their solution.  In any case, it was wonderful to meet them and have a lively dialogue.  I look forward to the next meeting.

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